Humble Beginnings
by Chameron4ever
Summary: He would be challenged here... at least, that's what his parents told him." Zack graduated college at age 16... and started high school at 8. A look at Zack's childhood in a very alien environment. Chapter 4 is now up!
1. Somewhere New

**Author's Notes: OK, this is my first ever attempt at a Bones fic… I got into the show relatively recently and quickly caught up with all the DVDs. Now it's one of my favorite shows ever, so I had to write a fic about it. Being the Zack fangirl that I am, I believe that there are not nearly enough Zackfics out there (I mean come on… 3 pages out of 154!) So I'm contributing the the relatively small pile. I hope it grows eventually. :)**

**Disclaimer: I'm guessing most sane people stopped reading the bold text a while ago, so I won't bother with the joke. Not mine. :'(**

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High school. It sounded ominous. But he would be challenged here… at least, that's what Zack's parents told him. He had spent the past year and a half going from grade to grade, classroom to classroom, trying to find something challenging. He was beginning to think that something didn't exist. Now, after spending 3 weeks at the local middle school, they had decided to send him to Kenwood High.

His older siblings all objected for different reasons. The ones in high school didn't want him in the same building, especially if he would be taking more advanced courses and getting better grades. Sam, his older brother by one year, still hadn't gotten over the fact that Zack was in a higher grade than him. It had been that way for years, but being older was supposed to make him superior somehow. …At least, that's how Sam saw it. Sam's only solace was in the fact that he was more socially advanced, so he rubbed it in ad every opportunity. Josh, who was in 8th grade, was really pissed that Zack had finally passed him. That was the fear of all his older brothers and sisters… that they would have to face the embarrassment of having their little brother in a higher grade than them. The older they were, the worse it was. The ones in high school were not looking forward to being passed by an _eight_-year old. It was even worse when he tried to help them with their math homework. His siblings in college told his mother that it would ruin his social life. His mother's response, "Of course it won't, don't be silly" was an obvious cover-up for the fact that all of Zack's closer siblings knew well: Zack had no social life to ruin.

At least Zack's younger siblings had no reason to resent him for making them look bad. Zack loved his whole family, of course, but he preferred the younger ones to the older ones. Jamie, at age six, could be a real pain, though. He always got mad at Zack for using big words and had an uncanny ability to make him feel naïve in social situations. Ariel was Zack's favorite. She was only three and looked up to Zack. They shared the common bond of having objects as friends… she had her stuffed animals and he had his microscope and his books. Zack knew that Ariel would eventually outgrow this and make real friends… a stage that he seemed to have skipped in life. When she did reach this stage, she would turn against him like the other kids. That was OK. He was used to it… he had learned to enjoy others interacting with him while it was happening, because it usually didn't last long.

The main thing separating Zack from his siblings was probably the fact that he freaked them out. He had overheard Josh talking to his mother about him once. "It's not human," he'd said. It had taken a while for this to make sense. In the beginning, he hadn't understood that he was strange. He had assumed that it worked the same with everyone… until that one fateful day…

"_One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish…" Zack didn't get the stimulation of such bland reading material. "Are all books like this?" he wondered. He walked into his sister Nicky's room and saw a much larger book lying on the floor. He picked it up and started heading. He was there for about an hour before Nicky walked in._

_When Nicky saw Zack on the floor reading, she laughed. "That book isn't for little kids," she said, "That's my biology textbook. Don't you want to read something easier?" Nicky picked up the abandoned _Dr. Seuss_ book from the ground. Zack looked at it with disdain._

"_This __is_ _easy!" said Zack. To prove it, he started to read aloud about mitosis. Nicky just gaped. Zack wondered what was surprising her so much._

"_Holy crap!" said Nicky. She then ran into the hall. "Mom! Mom!" she called, "Come here! You gotta see Zack!" His mother came into the room and Zack continued to read. _

After that, it was a whirlwind of activities, tests, and advanced schooling. At one point, Zack had asked what was going on and his mother had explained that it was very unusual for a 6-year old to be able to read an advanced science textbook. They had put him into 2nd grade a year early and for a while, Zack continued to be bored during school and read science textbooks at home. They realized that he wasn't being challenged and moved him to 3rd grade, then 4th… he stayed in 5th for a while before they decided to try the middle school. After 3 weeks, however, they had realized that he needed something even more advanced: Kenwood High.

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**Ok, I'll admit this chapter isn't very exciting… mostly background info. It'll get more interesting, though, I promise!**

**Oh, and 1 other thing… reading a fanfic & not reviewing is a lot like eating at a restaurant and leaving without paying, nudgenudgewinkwink. **


	2. First Day

**Author's Notes: I was recently informed that Zack's name is spelled with a K, not an H. Apparently Eric Millegan said so himself. So I went back and changed it, although this site still has it wrong. Oh well.**

**Things get rougher in this chappie… I was originally going to put more in this one, but I write WAY too much detail and this ended up really long, so a lot of chapter 2 stuff is going to be in chapter 3. I normally like long chapters, but this thing is 7 pages on Microsoft Word and it probably would've been 14 if I kept it going. That's too long even for me. Oh, and major angst warning… things get a lot rougher here. Sorry, Zack. :'(**

**Disclaimer: Is anybody still reading the bold text? If you are, let me know in your review and I'll give you a cookie. :) Anyway, not mine.**

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The building was big, ominous. Not even one building… multiple buildings, all linked together by breezeways on the 2nd floor. All huge and made from that same depressing bland gray brick. So mundane, so uncreative… so _scary_.

He knew it was irrational to be scared… It wasn't a dangerous school. There was nothing to be afraid of… but still. Moments earlier, his mother had been dropping him off, telling him that he would do fine, that he would be challenged here, that this was all _good_ for him. Even at the age of eight and with very little knowledge of psychology, he could tell that she was really talking to herself. His parents had been worried, but they had decided that it was for the best. And it was. So why didn't he walk into the building already?

He sighed quietly, adjusting his backpack and remembering the previous night. His brother Scott, a sophomore, had pulled him aside to talk to him. He remembered every word.

"_Listen, Zack." Scott had said, "I'm sure that you're all excited and whatever about being in high school, but—" Zack had tried to say that he wasn't excited and what was exciting about it when Scott held his hand up. "BUT," she said forcefully, making it clear that there would be no more interruptions, "It ain't that easy, so I'm gonna give you some pointers, seeing as I'm your brother and I look after you." Zack resisted the urge to correct Scott's grammar… he knew how much that annoyed him. He also didn't say anything about the fact that Scott very rarely looked after him… that was a job that very few wanted and it usually got dumped on other siblings or his parents. Scott continued. "Don't call attention to yourself. Don't talk to anybody besides a teacher unless they ask you something. You're weird, so it's probably best for you to just stay off everyone's radar. The teachers'll like you… talk to them if you get lonely. Or talk to your books or write equations or whatever the hell it is you do.' Scott paused for a moment before continuing. "That being said, don't expect me to talk to you or anything while we're there. I've got a reputation to preserve and Addy isn't such a uncommon name, so inside the building, we've never met, K?" Zack just nodded. What else could he do?_

Scott had already entered the building with his sister, Callie. Callie was a senior and, although Zack could tell she disliked being in the same building as him, she was at least nice enough to pretend that it didn't bother her. She was the nicer older sibling… when Zack was little, Callie had been the only one who was willing to hold his hand and walk him to places he needed to go. But she wouldn't be holding his hand today… she too had a social reputation to protect.

Zack adjusted his bag again, which was heavier than it should have been. He hadn't been given any textbooks yet, so he should have just had basic supplies: paper, pencils, pens, maybe a notebook. But Zack carried his books with him everywhere… they were the only familiar comfort in this alien environment. He glanced at his watch…it was probably the fanciest thing he owned. It had been a special present for advancing so far in school… it was probably really just to make up for the complete lack of social life. The watch read 7:35 am. 7:35? How long ad he been standing there? First period started in ten minutes and he still had to go through the metal detectors and figure out where his first class was!

Zack took a deep breath and started moving forward. He stepped inside the building and saw along line for the metal detectors. This many people surely made up a large percentage of the school… Did most students make it a habit to come to school this late? Surely they wouldn't be on time for their classes? He sighed as he remembered that, no matter what grade he was in, most people still didn't hold school in as high regard as he did. The line moved at a steady pace… people put their backpacks on conveyor belts as they walked through the metal detector. Zack was reminded of the airport. He had once asked his mother why the airport had metal detectors and she had told him that they were there to keep people from bringing weapons on the plane. Were weapons a serious threat in the high school? They didn't have metal detectors at the middle school… did people suddenly become dangerous when they graduated from 8th grade?

Zack realized that he had come to the front of the line. He clumsily placed his bag on the conveyor belt and walked through the metal detector. It didn't beep. _Thank God_. He thought quietly as he grabbed the bad, noticing that the security guard was giving him an odd look. He probably stood out a lot in the sea of young adults. He quickly started walking, remembering what Scott had said about being inconspicuous.

He pulled out his schedule. He had first period English with Ms. Hudson in room 217. The second floor. He looked around for stairs and didn't see any. He couldn't see anything but the ocean of people surrounding him. Zack suddenly felt very small. He had to crane his neck up to see anything…and even then, he could only see people. How many students were in this school? "Excuse me…" he said meekly, but no one paid any attention to him. He started walking and the people acted like he wasn't there. He nearly crashed into about 10 high schoolers, none of which even acknowledged his presence. He eventually gave up and simply started weaving through the crowd, searching for stairs. Why hadn't anybody given him a map?!

The crowd started to thin. What was happening? Zack hadn't though about this particular component in high school… he'd switched classes during his brief time in middle school, but they had all been right down a hall… not in all different buildings on all different floors! The crowd was getting thinner and thinner… Zack finally saw stairs at the end of the hall… just before he heard the shrill sound of the bell. He was late. This would not make a good impression on his new teachers… and walking in late would attract attention. He started to move more quickly towards the stairs.

"Where do you think you're going?" boomed a voice behind him. Zack turned around to see a large security guard approaching him.

"To class," he said, failing miserably at his attempt to not sound nervous.

"Class?" said the security guard, "How old are you?"

_I really don't see how that's relevant to this conversation,_ Zack said inside his head. Out loud, he simply said "Eight."

"What are you doing in a high school?"

Zack sighed and held out his ID card, which was hanging around his neck. "I'm a student."

The security guard pulled the ID towards him -- rather hard. It made Zack's neck hurt – and examined it longer than was really necessary. "Fine," he said eventually, sounding almost disappointed, "But if you're a student, what are you doing in the halls during class?"

"Looking for my class," said Zack. _Didn't I say that already?_ "It's my first day."

The security guard paused for a second. "Then get out of the halls and into a classroom," he said, "But next time, you're going to need to get a tardy pass from the attendance office."

Zack nodded quickly. "Um, could you tell me where 217 is?" he asked the security guard, who had already started to walk away.

"Up the stair, across the breezeway, make a left," said the security guard, not bothering to turn around.

Zack quickly moved through the halls, firmly telling himself that next period, he would need to ask a teacher for directions to his next class… or to the attendance office, wherever that was. What was the attendance office, anyway? Were there so many late students that they needed an entire office for all of them?

As usual, his thoughts were interrupted by his destination. He looked at the doors around him. 225, 216… 217. He paused for a second before pushing the door open. The entrance to the classroom was at the front, so all eyes immediately turned towards Zack. "Can I help you?" asked the teacher, looking somewhat annoyed. Zack handed her his schedule that he was supposed to get all of his teachers to sign. She looked over it quickly. "Oh, you must be the new student..." she said, "I got a note about a you a while back. Um, there's an open desk over there. Go sit down and take out a sheet of paper for notes. We're reading The Pearl by William Steinbeck. I'll find a copy for you after class." Zack quickly moved to his seat, noting how different things were here. The teacher didn't ask him to introduce himself to the class and there didn't appear to be a seating chart. He noticed that a kid 2 desks down was sleeping. They apparently didn't enforce rules as much here, either. That kid would probably just lose points when the test came around and he didn't know anything.

They were discussing uses of symbolism in the 3rd chapter. Zack had never particularly liked English for this reason… he only understood things for their face value. He didn't do too well with analytical. Still, a grade was a grade, so he could always catch in to the symbolism the teacher was talking about and go off of that. If he was called on and didn't have an opinion, he would just find some connection between the story and Greek mythology. That always impressed teachers. Of course, the teacher wouldn't call on him today. He hadn't even been given the book yet. Zack had already read The Pearl, but Ms. Hudson didn't know that.

Zack carefully wrote down every word on the chalkboard, struggling to keep up. He understood everything, but she wrote _really fast!_ During his moments of spare time, Zack glanced around the room. It wasn't anything like the ones at his old school. No solar system drawings, no crafts, nothing made from construction paper… no encouraging posters about trying. There were maps on both sides – this room was probably also used for social studies – and an abstinence poster in the back. At his age, Zack was not completely certain of the full definitions of phrases like "abstinence" (he'd heard it mentioned during conversations held by his older siblings, but he was still hazy on the meaning) but he did know that he would not have found anything like that at his old schools.

The teacher finished her discussion and assigned the homework: read chapter 4 and write a page about its symbolism. A few kids took out notebooks to write down the homework… most of them just sat there. Zack didn't need to write anything down, of course, but he wrote it down anyway, in case anyone was watching.

The bell rang and the students quickly cleared out of the room. Zack walked up to his teacher, who was busy typing something on the computer. She looked up. "Yes?" she said, looking distracted.

"You told me to talk to you after class about getting my book?' he said, wondering if she had already forgotten.

"Oh, yes…" said Ms Hudson, slowly getting up and walking towards a bookshelf. Zack glanced at his watch nervously. He only had four minutes to get to his next class and they were quickly disappearing… he really didn't want to be late again.

The teacher pulled a thin blue book off of the shelf and handed it to him. "This is The Pearl, the book we are currently reading." She said, "We have already finished the first 3 chapters, so try to catch up." Zack nodded, not bothering to say that he had already read the book and could recite the fist 3 chapters word-for-word if she asked him to. He continued to nod as she told him that he would need a spiral-bound notebook for his classwork and notes – he had 3 in his backpack… he brought a lot of everything just in case – and as she reminded him 7 times to be careful with the book and not lose it. _Does she think I'm an idiot?_ He wondered, _Does she not trust me because I'm young or are all of her students generally irresponsible?_ Zack thought of the sleeping boy and realized that maybe she had reason for all the precautions.

Ms Hudson appeared to be done talking. Zack glanced at his watch – Only 1 minute left! He looked at his schedule. He had division next. What was division? Whatever it was, it was short. It only took up 15 minutes. "Where is room 132?" he asked quickly.

"Down the hall, down the stairs, take a left, down the hall, last door on your left." Zack moved quickly, but he knew there was no way he could make it there in the 45 seconds he had remaining. He had just reached the stairs when he heard the familiar screech of the bell. He quickened his pace, praying he wouldn't run into that security guard again. He didn't. _Thank God._ He was completely out of breath by the time he entered the classroom. It was large and divided into 2 sections of desks. "Ms. McRoberts?" he asked the woman who appeared to be glaring at him. She simply shook her head and pointed across the room. He walked over to the other teacher, who was taking attendance. "Ms. McRoberts?" He tried again. The teacher looked up. "I'm Zack Addy… Is this division?" She nodded.

"Oh, you're the new boy… the 8 –year old." She said, smiling. "Yes, this is division 253. You can go take a seat over there, behind Sarah."

"What is division?" Zack asked, looking around. Everyone was talking except for 2 students who appeared to actually be doing work.

"Did they not have division at the middle school?" She asked, "No, I suppose they wouldn't have. Division is like homeroom… we check to see who's here, we make announcements, kids work on homework."

"Why do it after 1st period?"

"Because a lot of students tend to get here late or cut 1st period, so this way no one misses division." She returned to her papers, a clear sign that the conversation was over. Zack looked around for his seat. There was only one open, so he assumed that the girl in front of it was Sarah. He sat down. A girl sitting next to Sarah turned to him.

"How old are you?" She asked in a way that even someone as socially naïve as Zack knew was very rude.

"Eight." He said, hoping to avoid confrontation. No such luck.

"Get out!" she exclaimed, "Seriously?" Zack paused, wondering whether or not that question was rhetorical. Eventually, he just nodded. "Oh my God!" She shouted. "Hey, Sarah, Eleanor, look at this!" The two girls sitting on either side of her turned.

"Rowan," said Eleanor, "I need to finish my Social Studies before next period or Mr. Sarudi's gonna freak. He's been so spazzy lately… I swear, he's gotta be PMSing." The 3 girls snickered as Zack remained confused.

"But this is important!" said Rowan. "Look at this guy!" She pulled on Zack's arm. _Does she really need to do that?_ He thought, _The nearest other boy is 3 seats down!_ "He's 8 years old and in high school!"

"Wow." Said Sarah. Eleanor poked him. _What the…? _Zack thought, _Is she checking to see if I'm real or something?_ "So…" Sarah continued, "Are you like some sorta freaky genius or something?"

Zack had no idea how to answer that. Freaky? Usually people waited until they thought they were out of earshot to call him a freak… clearly, rudeness was far more common in high school.

They didn't wait for an answer. "How many grades have you skipped?" asked Eleanor. Zack sincerely hoped (but sincerely doubted) that she was asking this in case he had already had a birthday this year and not because she couldn't (or wouldn't) do the basic math to figure it out.

"Well," said Zack, "I didn't completely skip any grades except first… I was in 2nd for about three quarters of a school year, and then I did a little bit of 3rd through fifth until the beginning of this year. I was in middle school for two weeks before they decided to send me here."

They started for a bit and Zack began to wonder if he shouldn't have spoken so much. Finally, Rowan simply whispered "_Freaky." _They all nodded and returned to their own separate activities. Zack reviewed The Pearl for about 30 seconds before the bell rang.

The next few periods passed in much the same manner… teachers gave him books, he took notes on things he already knew, people started at him and asked him his age. By the time his lunch period had come, he felt drained. School was supposed to be easy for him… How did all the other kids handle this stuff with difficulty in classes on top of it? _Stupid question,_ he told himself, _These things aren't hard for them because they aren't as socially awkward as you are._ Zack wasn't insulting himself, he was merely stating fact.

By the time he had found the lunchroom (2 minutes after the bell), the line was long and he was starving. He looked at his watch. 1:15. What kind of school had a lunch period at 1:15? He remembered what the bell schedule had said… there were 4 lunch periods. He had the latest, which started at 1:30. The earliest started at 10:45. Those 2 were the most crowded lunch periods, according to his siblings. _Why?_ He wondered. _Why give the majority of the school ridiculous lunch periods?_ _They could at least put more of them in 5__th__ and 6__th__, which start at reasonable times…_ The line was moving, at least. Slowly. Zack noticed a group of 6 girls walk right past him and take places near the front of the line. That never would have been allowed in his old schools, but no one really seemed to care here. As more and more people joined the line, Zack noticed that about 60 of them were cutting somewhere. Zack knew better then to cut – it would draw attention to him and it might require a certain social status. He simply waited and moved when he could, eventually reaching the front when he was sure there would be very little time left to eat. That was probably a good thing. People would probably be staring at him in the lunchroom, too.

He took him food, paid the scary-looking cafeteria worker, and walked into the lunchroom. He found an empty table and quickly took it, afraid of what might happen if he attempted to share a table with a teenager.

He ate in silence and attempted to read his English book. In a house with 7 children (once 9), he had quickly become good at drowning out distractions, but this was different from simple noise and chaos. He couldn't drown out the images in his mind of people staring, whispering… they were making his head hurt. Then from a few feet away, he heard a familiar voice. He looked to see Sarah, one of the girls from division. She was talking to someone… Callie! Callie knew Sarah? Strange. He listened and immediately regretted it. "Hey, you won't believe this," Sarah was saying, "There's this really freaky little kid in my division now… he's like 8 or something." She giggled. "What is an 8-year old doing at Kenwood Academy? I mean, I've heard of skipping a grade, but jeez! It's sorta sad, really, I mean that kid must spend his time doing nothing but schoolwork! I can't imagine having no life like that…" Callie's face showed no emotion. Zack quickly sank into his chair and hid behind his book as they passed right by his table. Sarah didn't notice him, but Callie discreetly put a folded piece of paper on the table. A note. Zack opened it and read it quickly.

"_Zack –_

_Holding up OK? Just try to blend in. The day is almost over. I'm sorry I can't talk to you in person about this, but it would look weird and I don't want to have to explain myself to my friends. You're smart, Zack, I'm sure you can figure out how to survive high school, at least for one more period. I'll talk to you when we get home, OK? Good luck!"_

She had drawn a smiley face at the bottom. Zack allowed himself to smile slightly. He knew that Callie was a little resentful of him being here, but it felt good to know that she cared. He missed the feeling of his older siblings looking after him… it had mostly stopped around the time the "freaky genius" thing started. He placed the note in his backpack as the bell rang. He took a deep breath and pulled out his schedule… only one period left. Gym. He sighed as he stood up and followed the crowd out of the cafeteria. This day just kept getting longer.

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**Wow, that was long! Nearly 4,000 words! I hope you enjoyed:) Zack's life really sucks right now, doesn't it? And it gets MUCH worse in the next chappie. But at least he has Callie now.**

**Zack is sad right now. But reviews might cheer him up. And speed up the next chappie. Care to try?**


	3. Gym Class

**Author's Notes: I'm so sorry that this took so long… I've been very busy, but I guess that's no excuse. :( Oh well, hopefully this chappie is worth the wait. I actually planned a lot more content for this one but, as usual, I wrote way too much detail, so it got split into 2 chapters. Hopefully, the next one won't take so long.**

**Disclaimer: If Bones were mine, Zack would get ****way**** more screen time each episode.**

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Zack passed the boy's locker room on his was to the gym and wondered if he should go in. There wouldn't be anyone in the gym yet… but he didn't have anything to change into, so being in the locker room would be pointless. He entered the gym and looked around. He had been right – no one else was there yet. He felt somewhat lost in the magnitude of the place… this gym looked to be at least 5 times larger than the one at the elementary school, and his spatial reasoning skills were _very_ good.

He was going to have gym here every day. He sighed. It had only been twice a week at the elementary school, and they hadn't been forced to change there. If you wore sneakers on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you were fine. The other students started to trickle in and Zack looked at the uniforms. He wondered if they even came in his size. They consisted of red shorts and a white shirt that said "Kenwood Academy – Physical Education is for Everybody." A bronco (the school's mascot) was placed in the middle of the shirt, dividing the last word in half and making "everybody" look like "every body." Maybe it was a pun. Zack didn't know.

The students started to sit in lines… this was probably how the teacher took attendance. Zack wondered where to go. He could sit in the bleachers, but there were already a number of students who hadn't dressed in uniforms sitting there and a couple of them looked kind of scary. With a sigh, he stood near the door and waited for the teacher. When he eventually walked in, he looked at Zack and said "There's no sub today, you're gonna have to get back to you class."

Zack wondered if students made a habit of cutting class to go to the gym when there was a substitute. Wouldn't it be a lot more fun to just leave? As usual, he didn't bother voicing his thoughts. He simply held out his schedule, which had become very worn and tattered by 8th period. "I'm new," he said, "This is my class."

The teacher examined the schedule, then looked at Zack, appearing to be seeing him for the first time. "You're Zackary Addy?" He sounded doubtful. _Why would an elementary school student be hanging out in a high school gym? _his thoughts screamed. Zack simply held up his ID card. The teacher looked at it and turned to his attendance book. "'Addy'… You'll be 2nd in line 1, after David Abrams." He pointed. "You'll need a uniform. You can buy one after school in the PE department. I'll give you until Friday to get it. Till then, you'll get your points by participating in your normal clothes. If you do not dress after Friday, you will lose points and be unable to earn them back. You can make up for absences if they are excused by coming during your lunch period. You may also make up if you come to class and choose to sit out, but only if you are wearing your uniform. Always wear your uniform, even when sitting out, so you can make up points. You get a certain amount of points each day for uniform and participation. These points will make up your grade." The teacher didn't pause once during that whole speech. Zack wondered how many times he had given it.

The teacher began to take attendance, which Zack took as a dismissal. He walked to line 1 and sat behind the boy at the front (apparently David Abrams). The kids around him gave him strange looks, but nobody said anything. "Michael!" The teacher called out, "You're leading exercises today." A tall boy with purple hair who had been sitting behind Zack walked to the front of the room and led the class in stretches. Zack managed not to look like a complete idiot. Then the teacher walked to the front of the gym and announced that it was Tuesday. "You know what than means!" he said. The class collectively groaned. Zack didn't know what Tuesday meant, but he doubted it was good. "That's right," the teacher added, "fitness day!"

_Fitness Day?_

The teacher organized the students into a long line and told them that they would be running laps as a group. If at any point someone got out of order or there was a gap between 2 people, more laps would be added. He then took them out to the track and blew his whistle.

This organization did not seem particularly fair. The 4 kids in the front looked like they probably ran track… and they weren't about to slow down. After half a lap, all the less athletic kids were panting for breath. Zack, who was about a foot shorter than the jocks that surrounded him, had it particularly tough. For some reason, the teacher had placed him between the 6 tallest kids in the class. Zack used to see running as the preferable alternative to the humiliation that came with actual sports and games in gym… now he found himself missing dodgeball.

Zack's mother used to often send him outside to play with his brothers and sisters. He would usually just stand and watch, wondering what the point was to running around aimlessly and chasing people simply because they were holding a small ball. Now he was starting to get it. Scott probably had no problems in gym class.

Zack's thoughts provided a nice comfort zone, but he couldn't block out how exhausted and out-of-breath he was. After a few minutes, he could not ignore his body's screams of protest any longer. He slowed down to a fast walk. The kids in front of him easily could have slowed down, too – it wouldn't have broken any rules and would've given everyone a break – but they just kept sprinting. The gap was growing larger and larger and they didn't seem to care. Maybe they enjoyed running laps. The kid behind Zack definitely didn't. "_Move it!" _said an angry voice just before someone shoved Zack… _hard._ He fell forward onto his knees. Those 4 kids in front kept going. Zack managed to get up and the first thing he saw was a very angry face… with purple hair. It was Michael, the boy who had led the exercises. "Hurry up, you retard!" he shouted. Zack's first instinct was to tell him the definition of "retard" and why it made no sense here, but he suppressed it. He just started running. His knees hurt (the tiny rocks on the track were _painful) _and Zack was thankful that he was not wearing the gym shorts. The rest of the line eventually caught up to the 4 boys in front, but not before the gym teacher noticed the gap and added 2 extra laps. Everyone groaned and Zack could tell that they blamed him. _What a perfect way to start four years with these people,_ he thought dryly. He could feel Michael's eyes on the back of his neck for the rest of the period.

When the teacher dismissed the class to go change, Zack gratefully walked into the hall to wait for the bell to ring. But just after he had passed through the door, a hand grabbed him and pushed him into the wall. He looked up to see Michael smirking. "Nice little stunt you pulled today, pipsqueak." He said. "You looking to piss everybody off?" Zack quickly shook his head. _Please go away…_ "Oh, really?" said Michael, "Well, you got a funny way of showing it. Are you a little kid or just a midget?" Zack didn't answer. What was he supposed to say? "How. Old. Are. You?" Asked Michael, very slow and loud this time, as though speaking to someone with a mental illness.

"Eight." It was really more of a squeak than a number.

"What the hell is an 8-year old doing in at Kenwood Academy?" Zack assumed the question was rhetorical. "Hey…" Michael said, appearing to have a thought. "Are you Scott Addy's brother?" Zack shook his head, remembering what Scott had said. Michael laughed. "I can see why he wouldn't want to connect himself to _you_… and that's really saying something because Scott is already a total—"

Zack decided at that point that the best option was to leave. Bad idea. He got a few steps before he heard "Where the hell do you think you're going?" And was once again slammed into the wall. Hard this time. He felt dizzy as he looked up at Michael. _Why can't this day end?_ "Damn, you're tiny!" he remarked. "You're like a stuffed animal or something." He laughed and finally headed for the locker room, leaving Zack holding his head in agony. As he walked off, he shouted one last comment: "This school is going to eat you alive!"

Michael would ensure that it did.

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**Aww, poor Zack. And it only gets worse. Sorry, I love angst. Btw, if anybody cares, Zack's school is based off of mine. Our PE uniforms have that "every body" thing on them and we were never able to determine whether or not it's a pun. My gym teacher also does fitness day Tuesdays and makes us run laps in a long line. The fastest kids always somehow end up in the front. So if you were curious where my inspiration came from, there you go. **

**The next chapter will focus on Michael and will hopefully be up soon… Just know that this fic will definitely not be abandoned like a lot of other Zackfics out there. I hate it when authors leave you hanging like that, so I swear I won't do that. :) **

**Still, reviews certainly speed up the writing process. ;)**


	4. Health

It was over

**Author Notes: I'm so sorry this took so long… over 2 months! But it isn't abandoned, like I promised. But the summary I gave you before is inaccurate… I didn't focus on Michael as much as I expected. There should be more on him next chapter.**

**You thought Zack's day was over, didn't you? Well, you were WRONG! Ha! Poor Zack…**

**Disclaimer: I own the DVDs… does that count?**

--

It was over. It was _finally_ over. Only a couple… hundred of these days left. Wonderful. Zack sighed as looked around the hallway, mapping out the direction from which he'd come in his head. If the rest of the year was this difficult, he just might ask to go back to elementary school…

No, he wouldn't do that. Social life had never been more important to him than education. He was being challenged at Kenwood Academy and in 4 years, he would go off to college… which would probably be even worse. Zack paused for a moment to compose himself and not allow the enormity of it all to swallow him whole. _One day at a time_, he thought, a mantra that his mother had taught him the previous year. _It will all eventually end._ He had added the second part himself.

As Zack started back to his locker, he heard the crackled sound of the PA system. "_All Freshmen should now be reporting to their Health classes. All 10__th__ through 12__th__ graders should be gathering their things and leaving the building by 3:10._" Freshmen? Zack was a freshman. Was he supposed to be going to another class? He looked at his schedule… it didn't mention Health class. It ended after 8th period gym. But the announcement had said _all_ freshmen. Maybe he should go just in case? But where were the health classrooms anyway?

Zack examined the area he was in and spotted a group of students entering a classroom. The teacher was standing by the door. He paused for a moment before walking up to her, deciding that grades were more important than avoiding looking like an idiot. "Am I supposed to be in there?" he asked, before quickly adding, "I'm new."

"You in division 251?" asked the teacher.

"253." Responded Zack.

"Two doors down." The teacher pointed.

Zack walked to the classroom right before the door was closed. He opened it and the teacher gave him a look. "You're late." She said. "And are you even supposed to be in here?"

'I'm new here." Said Zack, "I didn't know I even had a health class because my schedule ended last period but I heard the announcement and I asked a teacher and he said that I was supposed to come to this room because—" he suddenly remembered what Scott had told him about talking too much. "…This is division 253 right?" he finished lamely. He didn't really need to ask, it was just something to say. He recognized all the kids from division earlier. Eleanor, Rowan, and Sarah were all laughing. He wondered if they'd said anything about him since lunch.

"Yes, this is 253 Health," said the teacher, looking slightly bewildered. She handed him a workbook. "We're going over the questions on page 17. You'll need to finish the first 2 chapters by tomorrow to catch up."

She didn't tell him where to sit… he took the first empty desk he could find, which was safely far away from the 3 girls he had met earlier. He did a visual sweep of the room to confirm that Michael was not there. No purple hair. Thank God. He hadn't seen Michael during division anyway, but he felt the need to be sure. His head still hurt.

Zack examined the workbook. It was titled "The Freshman's Abstinence program." So he would be finding out what it meant after all. He turned to page 17 and looked at the questions. They were clearly push polling. He wondered if pointing that out to the teacher would get him in trouble. Probably best not to risk it. Still, he couldn't help but notice. For instance, question number 11: "Why do married couples who chose abstinence have better sex?

A) They don't have to worry about STDs

B) They respect each other more

C) Waiting makes it meaningful

D) All of the above."

The answer was obviously D. The people who made the workbook weren't actually asking a question for the benefit of education, they were giving you a lit of reasons why something is good. _Does that really work?_

After what seemed like eons, class finally ended and Zack went to talk to the teacher. He found out that freshmen had Health after school for 45 minutes every day of the first semester. If they didn't pass, they had to take it 2nd semester.

When walking back to the main entrance, Zack listened very closely for announcements in case he was missing another class. Apparently, his day was finally over. He hadn't been given a locker yet, so he didn't need to make any detours. He would probably get one tomorrow.

Once outside, Zack wasted no time in beginning the walk to his house. All of his siblings had left already because they didn't have to stay for Health. That was fine with him… he preferred walking alone anyway. On the walk home, he paused as he passed the elementary school. He felt a strange sense of longing to be there again. Yes, his classmates had all hated/ignored him, but the atmosphere had been friendly… comforting. The teachers didn't expect you to figure out random details (like health class) on your own and the building wasn't big enough to swallow you whole. He looked at his watch. All of his old classmates and younger siblings had gotten out of school 30 minutes ago. He quickened his pace, realizing that he would be the last one home.

When Zack got home, Scott and Callie were sitting on the couch talking. They looked up when he walked in and Callie waved him over. "How was it?" she asked. "Meet any interesting people?"

"Sort of..." said Zack, remembering the girls in his division. "You were talking to one at lunch."

Callie laughed. "You mean Sarah, don't you?" she asked. "I don't normally hang out with her… She's Amy's little sister and she kinda follows me around. She's just a freshman and she probably thinks that attaching herself to me will make her cooler. Really, it's just annoying." It was a relief to hear that girls like Sarah weren't the only kind of people at Kenwood… maybe Zack could actually find someone nice to talk to. Still, he had learned by now not to expect anything.

Zack decided to change the subject. Remembering the unpleasant conversation outside the gym, Zack asked Scott, "Do you know a boy named Michael with purple hair?" Michael had mentioned Scott and Zack was hoping that he might be able to give him some advice.

"You mean Michael Harris?" asked Scott. _Wouldn't I have said his last name if I'd known it?_ Zack shrugged. "That guy's a jerk and a total airhead." Said Scott. "You have classes with him?"

Zack nodded. "Gym," he said.

Scott nodded and laughed. "That moron actually failed gym last year. He never showed up on time to change. He's a sophomore now, but he's in as many freshman-level classes as are allowed."

So _that's_ why Michael was so big and seemed to know everything. He was a year older. He had made comments about Scott and Zack wondered if he should mention them. Scott liked to be told when people were badmouthing him and he could potentially provide advice, but telling him would be admitting that someone had figured out that they were related. Zack stayed silent.

They talked about random things for a while… Callie gave advice on quiet places to sit in the lunchrooms and what to avoid doing in specific classrooms (some teachers became extremely angry when corrected, while others found it to be productive). Even Scott was willing to throw in a few helpful hints in the safety and privacy of their house. It wasn't until about 20 minutes later that the conversation drifted back to the events of Zack's first day. "That Sarah girl didn't bother you, did she?" asked Callie, "I know she and her clique-y friends can be kinda mean." Zack shook his head, not sure if he was lying or not. Callie laughed. "I know she called you freaky… but you're used to that by now."

Scott laughed, too, and hit Zack lightly (well, _sorta _lightly) on the arm. "Yeah," he said, "Freaky little Zack." They were still laughing when they went upstairs to their rooms. Zack didn't find it funny at all.

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**AN: There is… chapter 4. Gotta love those siblings, huh? At least they **_**think**_** they're helping now. Reviews should stop the next chapter from being delayed so long… Why don't you try it? C'mon, that button is calling to you… :)**


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